Hey guys - its my first post so be kind.

My lovely girlfriend bought me a mini ipod for my birthday, which was nice.

It was bought in the US however and so I don't have the correct ac adapter for the UK.

I do, however, have a USB 2.0 cardbus card that is connected to my compaq Armada laptop. The USB card is independently powered. And the laptop is plugged into the mains.

I have installed all relevant software and its all connected up.

The screen shows the low battery warning symbol, not the charging symbol or 'do not disconnect'.

It appears to be charging because I can now switch it on - the battery meter is very low however.

However, the PC does not appear to recognise the ipod at all.

Any ideas? Am I just being impatient - should I leave it for a while to charge up a bit more?